Vietnamese government releases Nguyen Thi Thanh Van

December 12, 2007

Today in Vietnam, authorities released journalist Nguyen Thi Thanh Van — whose pen name is Thanh Thao — after 25 days of detention and accusing her of terrorist activities. She left on an evening flight and will arrive in Paris at 10:35am on Thursday, December 13th.

In regards to this development, Viet Tan affirms:

The Vietnamese government was forced to release Nguyen Thi Thanh Van because of domestic and international pressure, especially from the French government and Reporter Sans Frontieres.

This release invalidates all the accusations and fabricated charges by the communist authorities against Ms. Thanh Van. The Vietnamese government must be held accountable for its reckless accusations and behavior.

Nguyen Quoc Quan, Nguyen The Vu, Nguyen Viet Trung and Somsak Khunmi were detained for the same reasons as Nguyen Thi Thanh Van and Leon Truong. From a legal and human rights standpoint, all four activists still under detention must be released immediately.

On this occasion, Viet Tan once again extends our appreciation to the many individuals, organizations, and governments that have exerted pressure on Hanoi to secure this release.

In particular, we thank Reporters Sans Frontieres and Committee to Protect Journalists for their public statements and advocacy, and the numerous land protestors and listeners of Radio Chan Troi Moi (New Horizon) for their concern for journalist Thanh Thao over the last 25 days.

Contact:
Duy Hoang +1 (202) 470-1678
Chi Dang +1 (408) 228-4892